Patent claims define the scope of extend of protection an invention covers. In other words, claims specify what a patent does and does not cover. A patent claim is the most important part of a patent during drafting, prosecution, and litigation. Drafting patent claims is technical and requires both legal and technical expertise. A claim cannot be broad, because the applicant cannot get patent for what his/her invention cannot do. An applicant would not want the claim to be too narrow as well, because he/she would not want to lose full protection for his/her invention.

There are two types of patent claims: independent claims and dependent claims.

• Independent claims can “stand alone”, without referring to any other claim. It contains all the elements necessary to define the invention.
• Dependent claims have to bear reference to an earlier claim or independent claim, and must further limit the previous claim.